Child Killer gets New Sentence, Admits to Crime

James P. Harrison will spend the rest of his life in jail. That news is bittersweet to the family and friends of Stacey Forsee, her 3 year old daughter Tia, and 18 month old son Jordan. All three died in 1989 when Harrison attacked the family in their Mt. Vernon, IN home. Harrison was a convicted felon in 1989, having served time in Virginia for murder and manslaughter. He began stalking Stacey Forsee, according to her friends, after seeing her at a church he was attending. On January 17, 1989, Forsee and her children were attacked in their home. She was stabbed and sexually assaulted. The children died in a fire set in the home. Harrison was brought back to Mt. Vernon in 1991 after a cell mate in Maryland told authorities that he admitted to the crime. He was convicted in the arson deaths of Tia and Jordon, but not in Staceys murder. Harrison was sentenced to death, but that sentence was overturned in 2004 by a Federal Appeals Court. It ruled that the judge in the original case, James Redwine, should have recused himself from the trial, because Stacey Forsee made allegations in the past that he was involved with illegal drugs. Those accusations were never substantiated. The appeals court said Redwines "unmistakable bias infected" the trial. After the death sentence was overturned, a DNA link between the crimes and Harrison was established. In the face of that evidence, Harrison chose to plead guilty to two counts of arson causing death, and an habitual offender enhancement was added to the sentence. He admitted guilt on those two counts, and will serve 150 years in state prison, getting credit for good behavior and 17 years served. He wont be eligible for parole until hes over 115 years old, if he were to live that long. Family members expressed relief that the hearings are finally over, but still believe the death sentence should have been upheld.